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In Partnership
As we made spiritual progress, it became clear that, if we
ever were to feel emotionally secure, we would have to put
our lives on a give-and-take basis; we would have to develop
the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all
those around us. We saw that we would need to give
constantly of ourselves without demand for repayment.
When we persistently did this, we gradually found that
people were attracted to us as never before. And even if they
failed us, we could be understanding and not too seriously
affected.
The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. will
always depend upon our continued willingness to give up
some of our personal ambitionsand desires for the common
safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for the
individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice mean unity and
survival for the group and for A.A.'s entire Fellowship.
God Will Not Desert Us
"Word comes to me that you are making a magnificent stand
in adversity -- this adversity being the state of your health. It
gives me a chance to express my gratitude for your recovery
in A.A. and especially for the demonstration of its principles
you are now so inspringly giving to us all.
"You will be glad to know that A.A.'s have an almost unfailing
record in this respect. This, I think, is because we are so
aware that God will not desert us when the chips are down;
indeed, He did not when we were drinking. And so it should
be with the remainder of life.
"Certainly, He does not plan to save us from all troubles and
adversity. Nor, in the end, does He save us from so-called
death -- since this is but an openingof a door into a new life,
where we shall dwell among His many mansions. Touching
these things I know you have a most confident faith."
Who Is to Blame?
At Step Four we resolutely looked for our own mistakes.
Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and
frightened? Though a given situation had not been entirely
our fault, we often tried to cast the whole blame on the other
person involved.
We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the
other man's. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and
became willing to set these matters straight.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 67
One Fellowship -- Many Faiths
As a society we must never become so vain as to suppose
that we are authors and inventors of a new religion. We will
humbly reflect that every one of A.A.'s principles has been
borrowed from ancient sources.
A minister in Thailand wrote, "We took A.A.'s Twelve Steps to
the largest Buddhist monastry in this province, and the head
priest said, `Why,these Steps are fine! For us Buddhists, it
might be slightly more acceptable if you had inserted the
word `good' in your Steps instead of `God'. Nevertehless,
you say that it is God as you understand Him, and that must
certainly include the good. Yes, A.A.'s Twelve Steps will
surely be accepted by Buddhists around here.'"
St. Louis oldtimers recall how Father Edward Dowling helped
start their group; it turned out to be largely Protestant, but
this fazed him not a bit.
A.A. COMES OF AGE
Leadership in A.A.
No society can function well without able leadership at all its
levels, and A.A. can be no exception. But we A.A.'s
sometimes cherish the thought that we can do without much
personal leadership at all. We are apt to warp the traditional
idea of "principles before personalities" around to such a
point that there would be no "personality" in leadership
whatever. This would imply rather faceless robots trying to
please everybody.
A leader in A.A. service is a man (or woman) who can
personally put principles, plans, and policies into such
dedicated and effective action that the rest of us naturally
want to back him up and help him with his job. When a leader
powerdrives us badly, we rebel; but when he too meekly
becomes an order-taker and he exercises no judgement of
his own -- well, he really isn't a leader at all.
TWELVE CONCEPTS, PP. 41, 42
The Answer in the Mirror
While drinking, we were certain that our intelligence, backed
by will power,could rightly control our inner lives and
guarantee us success in the world around us. This brave
philosophy, wherein each man played God, sounded good in
the speaking, but it still had to meet the acid test: How well
did it actually work? One good look in the mirror was answer
enough.
My spiritual awakening was electrically sudden and
absolutely convincing. At once, I became a part -- if only a
tiny part -- of a cosmos that was ruled by justice and love in
the person of God. No matter what had been the
consequences of my own willfulness and ignorance, or those
of my fellow travelers on earth, this was still the truth. Such
was the new and positive assurance, and this has never left
me.
Humility for the Fellowship, Too
We of A.A. sometimes brag of the virtues of our Fellowship.
Let us remember that few of these are actually earned
virtues. We were forced into them, to begin with, by the cruel
lash of alcoholism. We finally adopted them, not because we
wished to, but because we had to.
Then, as time confirmed the seeming rightness of our basic

In Partnership

As we made spiritual progress, it became clear that, if we

ever were to feel emotionally secure, we would have to put

our lives on a give-and-take basis; we would have to develop

the sense of being in partnership or brotherhood with all

those around us. We saw that we would need to give

constantly of ourselves without demand for repayment.

When we persistently did this, we gradually found that

people were attracted to us as never before. And even if they

failed us, we could be understanding and not too seriously

affected.

The unity, the effectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. will

always depend upon our continued willingness to give up

some of our personal ambitionsand desires for the common

safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice means survival for the

individual alcoholic, so does sacrifice mean unity and

survival for the group and for A.A.'s entire Fellowship.

God Will Not Desert Us

"Word comes to me that you are making a magnificent stand

in adversity -- this adversity being the state of your health. It

gives me a chance to express my gratitude for your recovery

in A.A. and especially for the demonstration of its principles

you are now so inspringly giving to us all.

"You will be glad to know that A.A.'s have an almost unfailing

record in this respect. This, I think, is because we are so

aware that God will not desert us when the chips are down;

indeed, He did not when we were drinking. And so it should

be with the remainder of life.

"Certainly, He does not plan to save us from all troubles and

adversity. Nor, in the end, does He save us from so-called

death -- since this is but an openingof a door into a new life,

where we shall dwell among His many mansions. Touching

these things I know you have a most confident faith."

Who Is to Blame?

At Step Four we resolutely looked for our own mistakes.

Where had we been selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and

frightened? Though a given situation had not been entirely

our fault, we often tried to cast the whole blame on the other

person involved.

We finally saw that the inventory should be ours, not the

other man's. So we admitted our wrongs honestly and

became willing to set these matters straight.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, P. 67

One Fellowship -- Many Faiths

As a society we must never become so vain as to suppose

that we are authors and inventors of a new religion. We will

humbly reflect that every one of A.A.'s principles has been

borrowed from ancient sources.

A minister in Thailand wrote, "We took A.A.'s Twelve Steps to

the largest Buddhist monastry in this province, and the head

priest said, `Why,these Steps are fine! For us Buddhists, it

might be slightly more acceptable if you had inserted the

word `good' in your Steps instead of `God'. Nevertehless,

you say that it is God as you understand Him, and that must

certainly include the good. Yes, A.A.'s Twelve Steps will

surely be accepted by Buddhists around here.'"

St. Louis oldtimers recall how Father Edward Dowling helped

start their group; it turned out to be largely Protestant, but

this fazed him not a bit.

A.A. COMES OF AGE

Leadership in A.A.

No society can function well without able leadership at all its

levels, and A.A. can be no exception. But we A.A.'s

sometimes cherish the thought that we can do without much

personal leadership at all. We are apt to warp the traditional

idea of "principles before personalities" around to such a

point that there would be no "personality" in leadership

whatever. This would imply rather faceless robots trying to

please everybody.

A leader in A.A. service is a man (or woman) who can

personally put principles, plans, and policies into such

dedicated and effective action that the rest of us naturally

want to back him up and help him with his job. When a leader

powerdrives us badly, we rebel; but when he too meekly

becomes an order-taker and he exercises no judgement of

his own -- well, he really isn't a leader at all.

TWELVE CONCEPTS, PP. 41, 42

The Answer in the Mirror

While drinking, we were certain that our intelligence, backed

by will power,could rightly control our inner lives and

guarantee us success in the world around us. This brave

philosophy, wherein each man played God, sounded good in

the speaking, but it still had to meet the acid test: How well

did it actually work? One good look in the mirror was answer

enough.

My spiritual awakening was electrically sudden and

absolutely convincing. At once, I became a part -- if only a

tiny part -- of a cosmos that was ruled by justice and love in

the person of God. No matter what had been the

consequences of my own willfulness and ignorance, or those

of my fellow travelers on earth, this was still the truth. Such

was the new and positive assurance, and this has never left

me.

Humility for the Fellowship, Too

We of A.A. sometimes brag of the virtues of our Fellowship.

Let us remember that few of these are actually earned

virtues. We were forced into them, to begin with, by the cruel

lash of alcoholism. We finally adopted them, not because we

wished to, but because we had to.

Then, as time confirmed the seeming rightness of our basic